Countdown

A feature of the drive from the Headland into town is the “countdown clock” on the historic quay. This displays the days to go to Tall Ships. It’s just as well it is not displaying the cost of the event since the clock would now be showing in excess of £3,000,000. This huge figure includes over £1,000,000 for the event management (event infrastructure, entertainment programme, event staffing costs and site preparation). The firm providing at least some of these services, Touchline Event Management, went bust last week, but was immediately bought out by Churchill Contract Services, a contract cleaning company, based in Hertfordshire. So there is a sizable amount of the money associated with the Tall Ships Event which will be leaving the town rather than being retained in the local economy.

Apart from yellow lines everywhere the likely legacy of the Tall Ships coming to Hartlepool will be a huge debt and a cadre of qualified Ship Liaison Officers, ready to spring into action at a moments notice should ship liaison ever be required again. I have heard a rumour that Mayor Drummond’s next brilliant idea is setting up a training academy to ensure Hartlepool can supply the world with fully qualified flag sellers for Coronations. Given the advanced age of our current monarch then flag seller at coronations might be a better long term career move than Tall Ships Liaison Officer?

Life was better in the 60s?

I have been asked if I think life was better in the 1960s? I was born in 1960 and I then lived in the country with the 9th highest male life expectancy in the world of 68.2 years; now that life expectancy is 76.5 years. In the 1960s most forms of cancer were a virtual death sentence; by 2008 more than half of patients diagnosed with some form of cancer were surviving. I remember waking up in the 1960s with frost on the inside of my bedroom window and having to book an international telephone line to speak with relatives in Australia. Now I have central heating and can call Australia direct on my mobile. In the 1960s only 2% of children had the opportunity of a University education, now every child has that opportunity.

Today we are better educated (or at least have better qualifications), are physically more comfortable and living longer, healthier lives. Of course we won the world cup in the 1960s, something that has eluded England ever since. However, was it better in the 1960s? My view is it was certainly different, but that doesn’t mean better or worse. Admittedly there was no MRSA in hospitals but people still died in the 1960s of illnesses which are routinely treated and cured these days. Try surviving cancer in 1960 and look at your chances today. House prices were lower in the 1960’s but the increase in prices since then are an inevitable result of a free market and capitalist economy. Price controls on housing may be an answer but after that where do you stop? Wages control? Not minimum wage but maximum? Then you are into progressive taxation? Fix maximum you can earn and then have 100% tax band after that? Central command and control economies have never worked very well in the long term if you look at the USSR as the obvious example.

People trot out the “statistics” on social mobility being better in the 1960s. Well we’d come out of a war less than a generation earlier and wars are very good at creating the opportunities for social mobility. The First World War created the biggest social mobility ever in the country! It also depends upon what you mean by social mobility? Do you mean we all have to live in bigger houses? We all should have estates in the country and titles? We all have to be Directors of BP? My son has just signed on with Carnival Cruise Lines (Owners of Cunnard amongst others), as an Engineering Officer Cadet, his Granddad was an Engineering Officer with P&O so does that mean my family has stagnated or even gone backwards? My daughter is studying law at Kings College London so I think she's done OK so far? Education was apparently better in the 1960’s and there was apparently full employment. Actually there were still pockets of unemployment even in the 1960’s. If we cut the UK population today back to the same level as 1960 then our unemployment problems would vanish overnight!

Conventional wisdom now teaches that we were a more law abiding society in the 60s. There were no Soham Murders or police facing armed villains. Of course Britain did have The Moors Murders in the 1960s and the Kray Twins were running the East End of London. Drugs are a problem today that didn’t have as high a profile in the 1960s but that didn’t mean drugs were only invented in the past decade.

I am very wary of the rose tinted spectacles, looking back at the "golden age" For one thing we cannot go back to the 1960's, the world is a totally different place now. I was born in 1960 so the whole CND bit is a mystery to me, I never lived in fear that the world could end in mushroom clouds at any moment, and I think that was something the 1960 generation used to worry about?

So, I don't think today is any better or worse than the 1960's, I think its just different, and one thing is definitely certain, we have to live now and get on with it as until H.G.Well's time machine is available we can't do anything else.

Ironically, apparently and possibly allegedly!

So word has come down from on high that, after checking the nominations and withdrawals, there are now 37 candidates for the 7 available vacancies on the NEC. No mention of who these candidates are of course, that is still privileged information. Ironically the fact that there are 37 Candidates is only available to you if you subscribe to the Members’ Forum Daily E-mail; there is no mention of it on the main party website. I say “ironically” because NEC Candidates have been banned from posting on the Members’ Forum. Apparently at the instruction of the NEC at their meting in June. Again I say “apparently” because mere members like us are not privy to the decisions of the NEC until a sanitized version of the minutes is published, on Members’ Forum. The secrecy and high handed attitude of the NEC is one of the things that we need to change.

One thing that does give me some hope for the future of UKIP is the growing acceptance that local council elections are an important route to getting our country back. I have been singing this song for many years but it is only recently that other members of UKIP have been picking up the beat. One of my aims, should I be successful in being elected to the NEC, is to get campaigning and elections up the agenda.

Question Time tonight is coming from Hartlepool and I will be in the audience. Whether I am picked for a question I don’t know and won’t find out until the program is ready to start. Any of you who have been to Question Time will know it’s not actually a live show; it’s recorded an hour in advance. I spent a few minutes on the phone to Nigel yesterday giving him a run down on local issues and my expectations of the audience. Not difficult to predict a left leaning audience, heavily biased towards the public sector. The North East now has over 60% public sector employment and in Hartlepool I think the figure is closer to 70%. There simply is NO private sector left up here. The biggest “private sector” employer was a Call Centre which closed a few weeks ago with the loss of 700 jobs. After that we have firms who are technically private sector, such as a couple of construction firms but all their work at the moment is building or refurbishing social rented housing, part of the pseudo private sector that has been created by selling off council owned houses to housing associations. More manipulation of the figures! Perhaps this is where I should say "allegedly"

Remember you can ask me anything about my aims and objectives for the NEC at my www.vote-steve.info website. I’m not allowed to carry out ant overt campaigning but can respond to questions. Also I can read postings on the Members’ Forum I just can’t respond to them, not even in Private Messages, heaven forbid that communication might occur in this party, the world would probably end.

NEC Nominations closed!

Well it's after 5.00pm and according to the daily e-mail newsletter ”NEC nominations closed today at 5pm; there has been a huge increase in the number of candidates this year. Full details will be released once all of the nominations have been checked. There are 7 vacancies for the NEC this year.” So I don't know if I'm standing or not?

I did think an interesting scenario might develop if a nomination that was submitted on time was subsequently rejected! Let’s say someone has proposed two people or an assenter has signed 8 sets of papers. Under Parliamentary or Local Government rules that would mean who ever submitted last would be disqualified. Of course under those rules the candidate would still be able to get alternative signatures since nomination forms are checked as soon as they are submitted, not after the deadline has passed.

The whole nomination process has been a revelation to me. I was asked by Rob to be one of his assentors and I agreed. He e-mailed me the form; I signed it and e-mailed it back to him. Job done in less than an hour. Rob however has experience of the way UKIP run these sorts of procedures and asked the Returning Officer if an e-mailed copy of the form was acceptable. Unfortunately the answer was NO. Only original forms, signed in ink, were acceptable. WHY? I have agreed contracts worth £100,000’s using faxed paperwork. I have just stood guarantor for my daughter’s rent on her student flat next year and it was all done electronically. When I submitted my expenses return for the elections this year I sent it in electronically and the Election Office at Hartlepool Council had no problem accepting them!

UKIP really is still in the dark ages when it comes to modern technology. It is ludicrous in this day and age that pieces of paper need to cris/cross the country so that they can be signed in ink. It’s the same as not being allowed to campaign for the NEC seats. Why not?

If I am successful in being elected to the NEC then I will be looking for major changes to the way the NEC is elected and how it operates. I would like to see the NEC Elected at the Annual Party Conference, or if not elected at least NEC Candidates having a hustings session as part of the conference program. Let the membership meet the candidates, question the candidates and form an opinion, not be limited to 150 words and a small photograph.

UKIP needs to be in the 21st Century, procedures like this one are stuck in the 19th.

UKIP need a strategy and business plan. The NEC must listen to the membership and report back to them. I hope my plain speaking, northern voice can help shape a NEW NEC, to take on executive power, in a fully fledged party, inspiring and leading the fight to get Britain out of the EU.


If you haven't seen it yet don't forget to visit my Campaign Website at www.vote-steve.info

Nice to see a bit of colour

The latest Hartlepool Street Art project “Paint the town in yellow stripes” looks like being a huge success! There is yellow paint everywhere! Thought up by the Mayor and Cabinet and fully funded by the residents of the town. Possibly not be the best use of public money in the current financial climate but the yellow paint is apparently vital for smooth traffic flow during the Tall Ships.

Hartlepool residents might be surprised to learn that the Tall Ships is not the only event being held in the UK this year. The Celtic Manor Club in Wales are expecting sell out crowds for their event and are adopting a “park and ride” scheme of their own.

The Highways agency has suspended all works on access routes and land at the former Llanwern steelworks will be used to accommodate up to 12,000 cars travelling from the east and another site will provide space for up to 3,000 cars arriving from the west. Both sites will include facilities for security and ticket checks before people take coaches to the sell-out event. Up to 30,000 people a day are expected through the two sites.

No plans to paint the town yellow have been adopted, no residents parking schemes introduced. Of course, it’s only the Ryder Cup so it’s not in the same league in the international sporting hierarchy as the Hartlepool Tall Ships! Is it?

Organisers also identified the need to minimize disruption for residents going about their normal business, something the Mayor and Hartlepool Council obviously have no interest in doing if reports that Headland residents will be turned back if the Headland is "full". My mother is almost 80 years old and a little unsteady on her feet, she can't walk long distances any more. If she can't guarantee to get back to her house then she will effectively be made a prisoner in her own home for the duration of the event. My wife runs her own chiropody business from a surgery in Park Road and also visits people in their homes, she has effectively been told to close her business while the Tall Ships are in town as she won't be able to get to her patients and her patients won't be able to get to her surgery!

The Eve of D-Day

I haven't had much opportunity to blog recently, installing a ground source heat pump and researching an MA Dissertation on Elected Mayors in the media have been taking up quite a lot of my time. However, I've been persuaded to stand for election to the UKIP National Executive Committee and tomorrow is the last day for submission of nomination papers so I thought I'd better get my finger out.

The election for the next UKIP NEC is looking like it will be a crowded field. I’ve heard reports of around 40 candidates standing for the seven seats and I personally have signed nomination papers for three people, it was four but one of them told me she had enough other assentors so didn’t need me! Tomorrow is the close of nominations so we may find out for sure then. Or knowing UKIP we probably won't find out officially for several days after that since there is a “cooling off period” where candidates can withdraw their names. Working on the basis that knowledge is power and the most important thing in UKIP seems to be keep the power in a small, select group, then there is scope for some behind closed doors horse trading once all the names are in, but before the final line up is released!

Even when the names of the candidates are released how exactly are the UKIP Membership going to be able to make an informed decision from a passport sized photograph and a 150 word statement? An impossible task I would have said, especially given the ludicrous rules imposed on the candidates to prevent anyone actually campaigning! Of course if anyone happens to ask me to visit their branch!!!!!

Surely we want people in UKIP with campaigning skills? So why ban campaigning for seats on the NEC. Of course the ban assists those people who are already well known in the party and those who can get a proposer, seconder and assenters who are also well known! Let's face it; the NEC has a very poor record when it comes to accepting new, radical or different ideas.

Anyway, if we accept the proposition that UKIP exists to get the UK out of the EU, which I assume we all do, otherwise why are you a UKIP Member? then as far as I can see there are three ways out; the EU collapses under its own weight and ceases to exist; UKIP members armed with Baker Rifles stage a coup, take control of the government and unilaterally withdraw our country from the EU; or, we grow into a mass political movement and win enough seats in the House of Commons to democratically achieve the aim of withdrawal.

The first scenario is actually a possibility, it happened to the Soviet Union and could happen to the European Union given enough time, and unfortunately it will also drag the UK down at the same time. Withdrawal by force has a poor record historically, the Hungarians showed what happens in these cases and of course the Southern American States are still smarting today over their treatment after they left “the Union” . So that leaves the ballot box. For which we need campaigners! So what do UKIP do? Ban Campaigning! Who makes up these rules? Surely it’s time we changed them?

UKIP needs a NEC with a strategy and business plan. The NEC must listen to the membership and report back to them. I hope my plain speaking northern voice can help shape a NEW NEC, to take on executive power, in a fully fledged party, capable of inspiring and leading the campaign that will get Britain out of the EU.

I do have an NEC Campaign Website if anyone would like to know more.....?

I love my JCB

Public leader, party leader or policy leader?

In many discussions about the effectiveness of elected mayors there is general agreement that one of the key functions is to provide leadership for their local authority. Mouritzen and Swan (2002) classified mayoral leadership styles into three types; public leaders, party leaders or policy leaders.

A public leader is the citizen’s champion, determining the direction the people want their area to take and promoting activities that bring this about;

a party leader is concerned mainly with the implementation of their party manifesto;

the policy leader is focused on operational or administrative leadership.

To function as a public leader requires a long term vision for the way in which their area should develop. This vision should be produced in close consultation with the communities outside the traditional civic arena. Public leaders cannot associate themselves with too many special interest groups. Giving special consideration to one group or organisation, for example the local football club, will undermine any claim to be a wider, general public mayor.

Party mayors are constrained by their party manifesto and party hierarchy. In many cases it is arguable that a party mayor is in power on behalf of the party and not him or herself and so has less direct influence. Hambelton and Sweeting (2004) concluded that the power of political groups to control local leaders was declining and so party mayors were becoming more independently minded. However, Copus (2006) found there was no evidence for this and felt they had underestimated the resilience of local political parties.

“Local political parties retain the right to select mayoral candidates; any party mayor that strays too far from what the local party think fit, could suffer the ultimate sanction of de-selection” (Copus 2006).

The policy mayor is focused on the organisation of their local authority and its ability to provide services, which after all is the principle function of a local authority. This can also be classified as taking on a corporate leadership role.

It is suggested by Mouritzen and Swan that policy mayors can be further subdivided. A policy innovator produces new, original and challenging policies towards service delivery; a policy administrator is concerned more with the details of policy implementation; and policy designers look at implementation of mainly externally generated policy but without concern for details. There was also a fourth category of the policy caretaker mayor; these seem to be content to leave both the detail of policy formation and the administration of service delivery to the bureaucracy of the civic centre.

Copus (2009) highlights the problem faced by elected mayors seeking to take on a corporate role;

“The English Mayor faces a tussle for parity of esteem and power with the chief executive in relation to the overall bureaucracy, or must operate to ensure that the chief executive plays a sub-ordinate organizational leadership role to that of the mayor.” (Copus 2009).

The need to control civic centre empires has led three elected mayors to completely dispense with the post of chief executive and to take on that role themselves. They have appointed a Head of Paid Service in a Managing Director type position which clearly make it sub-ordinate the elected mayor as chief executive.

Lerch and Wilson (2000) say regarding elected mayors that; “Leadership is an inspirational process, inducing others to follow.” And they contrasted this with; “as distinct from office holding, or responding to system driven sources.”

Whether an elected mayor is a leader or an office holder appears to be a function of the individual’s personality, their abilities, the political setting of the local authority and their interaction with the existing bureaucracy of their civic centre.

Which leadership style produces the best results is impossible to quantify as the standards by which a mayor is judged a success or failure are not universally agreed. However, the ultimate arbiter for an elected mayor must come through the ballot box. Applying the criterion of fighting sucessful elections then that makes three time winner Stuart Drummond of Hartlepool the most successful elected mayor in British history to date.

The triumph of the political class

"The Media Class and the Political Class share identical assumptions about life and politics. They are affluent, progressive, middle and upper middle class. This triumphant metropolitan elite has complete;y lost its links with a wider civic society - farming, the professions, small business, trade unions, the shop floor, which characterised British public culture throughout the most confident period of parliamentary government during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is obvious that the politicians and the media have far more in common with each other than they do with voters, readers and the public"

Peter Oborne (2007), The triumph of the political class (P259), Simon & Schuster, London

World Collapse Explained

Ground Source Pipes Arrive

The underground pipework has arrived for the ground source heat pump. Now all I have to do is dig 600m of trench work, about 1.5m deep and bury is all.


This will be three off loops each 200m long, making 600m in total.

Is withdrawal from the Eu the MOST important issue facing the UK today?

Back in 1943, before even I was born, a very clever chap named Abraham Maslow produced what I still think is the definitive theory of what motivates human beings.

Someone once summed it up by asking "Do you worry about the colour of the curtains when the house is burning down?"

Maslow said motivation changes as the personal circumstances of an individual change. The most basic needs are physiological (breathing, eating, sleep, etc). You can't motivate a starving man with a bar of gold but he will do almost anything you ask him to for a bowl of rice. Then comes safety (Shelter, health, etc). That bar of gold is useless to someone dying of a curable disease, but offer some medicines and away you go. The other levels are love/belonging, peer recognition and then ultimately self actualisation which is the level at where you think for yourself.

SO where does withdrawal from the EU come on that pyramid? You can't eat it, it won't keep the rain off, you can't have sex with it and I'm damn sure it does nothing to provide me with peer recognition. So the only people who will put withdrawal from the EU at the top of their list are those people who have reached the very top of the motivational pyramid, those people who actually THINK. So that's a tiny, tiny minority!

Applying the same analysis to those who claim "it's the economy, stupid" shows that this is not true either. I've already said a bar of gold won't motivate a man dying of disease or someone drowning can't be helped by a bar of gold (indeed it might be what is pulling him under).

Do the same with people who are motivated by "Freedom" or "love of democracy" a man being imprisoned doesn't have much use for a bar of gold and democracy won't cure a dying man.

"the ecconomy" is just as much an abstract concept to most people as "the EU" or "democracy" or "Freedom"

So, Is withdrawal from the Eu the MOST important issue facing the UK today?

What's the answer?

Actually, it is the economy, but only so far as a good economy creates the condition where the other needs can be more easily met. So governments need to set out its policies from the bottom up; agriculture/food, water, housing, health, defence, child care, education, representative democracy, personal freedom and a sovereign Britain (in that order).

Of course that presupposes you think the EU is a bad thing and a Federal European Superstate is not a good ideas.

If you are convinced that the EU is a good thing then maybe your priorities would be; agriculture/food, water, housing, health, defence, child care, dumbed down education, the appearance of representative democracy, personal freedom within strict rules and a sovereign EU Commission in total charge (not necessarily in that order).

I can see you!

Local authorities do it, tourist destinations do it, even educational establishments do it, let’s stream our webcam!


There is loads of debate about the use of CCTV Cameras monitoring our every move and of course the dreaded Gatso speeding cameras that seem to have sprouted up on every roadside.

The outputs from these cameras are restricted to a few people and for clearly defined legal use, but, there is another type of camera out there, streaming its output to the internet, that anyone can access who has the right URL.

Smile, you are on webcam!

The Data Protection Act 1998 is the key piece of legislation and the Data Protection Commissioner’s Code of Practice on CCTV gives guidance for webcam operators.

Webcams should not be installed to capture close-up images of private areas such as houses, gardens or offices without the written permission of the owner. However, there is no requirement to warm people they may be on a webcam in public and semi-public spaces, provided that individuals cannot be identified from the webcam output.

If individuals are likely to be identifiable, for example a webcam transmitting a high definition image at a live event, then reasonable steps are required to warn members of the public that a webcam is being operated. This is usually done with notices outside the venue or a note on posters or tickets.

The same rules apply to a webcam in a public space like a street or a park. If individuals can be clearly identified then the operator should put a warning notice near the webcam.

Once upon a time I had the “snowcams” of several Alpine resorts saved to my desktop. Sadly these days it’s more likely to be a camera that shows me the traffic on the A19 Tees Flyover that is linked to my favorites.

Here are some North East Webcam links.

Roker Beach

Tyne Bridge

Durham City Skyline

Sunderland University (The St.Peters Car Park!)

Any suggestions for more interesting views?

I did try to get Webcams into Hartlepool Council Chamber but the move was blocked, predictably, by the Labour Group, I doubt very much that they wanted the people of Hartlepool being able to watch the antics of their councillors!

Google "Hartlepool Art Gallery"

Try this little experiment.....

Google "Hartlepool Art Gallery"

When I tried it about 15 minutes ago I got a link to:

www.destinationhartlepool.com

which opens with......

"Welcome to Destination Hartlepool
The Official Website for Tourism and Business in Hartlepool"

Under Latest News..

Current exhibition at the Museum - Tataow! Cook, Tahiti & Tattooing

Great I thought I'll go and see that tomorrow......Oh hang on, its 5th June tomorrow and the exhibition runs from Saturday 20th February to Sunday 11th April! Does that mean I've missed it?

It's OK though, there is a big event planned for July 4th and 5th, Hartlepool Dockfest 09 - Ah, I've missed that as well, it was LAST YEAR!

Who is responsible for letting this website get so behind the times I ask myself?

It's not easy to find but right down in the bottom left hand corner is a little logo and "Terms of Use" Just in case you can't find it the link brings up a box that tells you (amongst other things) that:

"This website is maintained by Hartlepool Borough Council for information and communication purposes."

I wonder if the website operators will get it updated in time for the Tall Ships?

If you have a hit counter on your blog you can also usually find out who is visiting your pages. So a big thanks for the peek from Nick Wallis, Labour Councillor for Haughton West ward and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Environment and Climate Change on Darlington Borough Council. I returned the favour and pinched the poster below, very good I thought and very true!

Pravda Publications or vital sources of public information?

In 2005 the Local Government Association (LGA) launched its “Reputation” campaign with a 12 point plan for local authorities to improve their public image and increase the value residents placed on local authority services. One of the key recommendations was that councils should publish a regular council magazine or newspaper.

The reputation plan even identified a council produced magazine as “the most cost effective form of communication for getting a council’s key messages across, giving statutory information, gathering feedback, setting the record straight and counteracting rumour.” (LGA, 2005).

Eleven of the north east of England’s local authorities signed up to the campaign immediately and began to produce magazines of varying standards of professionalism and with varying cost (Association of North East Councils, 2006). By 2009 nearly every local authority in the country was producing such a magazine (LGA, 2009).

The emergence of council run publications has had a serious effect on local newspapers and a House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee highlighted four principle arguments against council publications (HOC, 2009). There was insufficient distinction between local authority publications and independent newspapers; the council publications diverted advertising spend away from the traditional press; the inclusion of public notices in council publications rather than the traditional press; and the content of council publications was not sufficiently objective or independent (including allegations of "council propaganda").

The argument that there is insufficient distinction between local authority publications and newspapers is difficult to sustain in the case of the Hartlepool council Hartbeat magazine as Hartlepool is served by three daily newspapers, two are evening publications, the Hartlepool Mail (Publisher Johnson Press) and the Gazette (Publisher, Trinity Mirror) and one, the Northern Echo (Publisher, Newsquest) is a morning newspaper. There are also free papers such as the Hartlepool and Peterlee Star which is published weekly. All are published in newspaper format. The Hartbeat magazine is published only four times a year and is in A4 magazine Format.

However, the front cover of Hartbeat does not specifically say the magazine is designed, printed and distributed by Hartlepool council. In very small text it does give the website address but it is not very prominent. Anyone not familiar with the publication might be confused about its provenance.

The criticism referring to the inclusion of statutory or public notices is also not totally sustained by the Spring 2010 Issue. Page 48 does give information about ward councillor’s surgeries, although details are published for only eight out of seventeen wards in the town. The criticism of the Commons Select Committee however seemed to be mainly concerned with statutory notices and there were no examples of these in the Spring 2010 Issue.

Many other local authorities are now looking at in-house publication and the use of local newspapers, for statutory notices. Hampshire council chiefs recently identified that by moving only to on-line publication, via the council’s website, they could save a considerable fraction of the £1.5m annual costs they incur by advertising everything in local newspapers or in council publications (Southern Daily Echo, 2010).

The criticisms made by the Select Committee of diversion of advertising revenue and in particular the lack of objectivity, can both be clearly be seen in the Spring Issue of Hartbeat.

Hartbeat is an unremitting diet of good news about Hartlepool council and its “partners”

The use of unsupported statements is illustrated on pages 20 and 21 where a double page header says “Yes, we use our local library for all sorts of things….” This is a blatant political statement and is related to the on-going debate over public library provision in the town. There is no evidence provided for library use in the town.

On page 6 the magazine trumpets the achievements of the council in imposing the lowest ever council tax rise. However, it fails to mention that figures release by the Department for Local Government and Communities show Hartlepool borough council charge the third highest council tax in England. Hartbeat Magazine is correct in saying it is the lowest tax increase ever, but neglects to mention that at 2.5% it is still above the national average increase of only 1.8%

Page 6 also contains a “Thumbs up for new power station” This is based on the council’s own polling data using their Viewpoint Citizen's Panel. This was set up in 1999 and consists of around 1,200 residents who are claimed to be a representative cross section of the Hartlepool community. The headline “Local people have given an overwhelming ‘thumbs up’ to a new power station being built in Hartlepool” is therefore based on a private poll about which no details of the actual membership of the panel are available and which do not comply with any of the standards set by the British Polling Council or the Market Research Society Code of Conduct.

According to the LGA Survey of local council newsletters the average cost in 2009 of publication and distribution for a unitary authority magazine, such as Hartbeat was £82,000. Page 3 of the Hartbeat magazine make the statement “Hartbeat aims to be a self funding publication”. In response to an enquiry about the funding of Hartbeat magazine the Hartlepool council PR Department supplied the information that Hartbeat has a design, printing and distribution budget of just under £1,800 per issue. The PR Department also claimed that in 2009/10 the magazine did not use this budget and actually produced an overall surplus of almost £2,000. It was also noted that Hartbeat was printed by an out of town firm. A great example of Hartlepool Council failing to support local companies.

An enquiry to the advertising agency handling Hartbeat gave prices for a full page advertisement as £500 (plus VAT); a quarter page was £200 (plus VAT). These were provided verbally as the Agency does not have a published rate card for Hartbeat magazine. The Agency is based in Northallerton and also handles the advertising for the Darlington Town Crier (Darlington Borough Council, 2010).

The Spring 2010 issue of Hartbeat is a 64 page magazine and contains 10 pages of clearly identifiable external advertising, (such as Pages 2, 7 and 17), plus 3 pages of what could be counted as advertising but is internal council generated (such as the Maritime Experience Advert on Page 10. The Maritime experience is council owned and operated). There are other pages that could be advertising, pages 9 and 40 refer to NHS Services in the town but it is unclear wether or not these are paid for advertisements. Similarly the full page from the Cleveland Police Authority (Page 35) could be a paid for advertisement.

Assuming the NHS, Police Authority and Colleges all pay for their advertisements then a total of 19 pages are paid for copy, giving an income of £9,500. This would hardly be a significant sum to Trinity Mirror Group, Newsquest or Johnston Press however; if the same scenario is being repeated across the whole of the UK then significant sums will become involved.

Public Sector accounting practices do make isolating costs very difficult. Page 18 of Hartbeat gives information about the “Milestone year” for Housing Hartlepool. Housing Hartlepool is the major social housing provider in the town. It was set up as a stand alone organisation in 2004 by members of the council’s own housing department to take over the council’s housing stock in the town. It is not clear from the context in Hartbeat if this is editorial or paid advertising.

According to Alex Aiken, Head of communications at Westminster City council. 'Councils should be reviewing very seriously what they produce. Councils claim that it is made viable by its advertising but most of that is council advertising so you are just transferring money between departments..' (Quoted in Harrison.C, 2010)

The House Of Commons Select Committee did identify some good examples of council publications. Stevenage borough council's Chronicle and Portsmouth city council's Flagship were singled out as good examples of council produced publications. Like Heartbeat, both of these are magazine format and distributed on a quarterly basis.

Unlike Hartbeat however they both clearly state they are published by the local authority. Also unlike Heartbeat they carry no classified advertising and are produced only for the purpose of providing public information on local authority services.

The select committee report also criticised council magazines that contain comments only from elected members who were cabinet members. In Hartbeat the only councillors mentioned are the Mayor, Stuart Drummond, The cabinet member for performance, Robbie Payne and the cabinet member for Children’s services, Cath Hill. There are no backbench or opposition councillors mentioned anywhere in the publication.

In this respect Hartbeat does not reach the extremes of some other council publications. One issue, selected at random, of Tower Hamlets’ publication, East End Life, included only references to the council's ruling Labour cabinet. The issue of 16-22 March 2009, mentioned them by name 27 times, including six mentions of the same councillor, and carries 12 pictures of them. (Gilligan.A, 2009)

Hartbeat magazine is undoubtedly a propaganda tool for Hartlepool council giving a positive spin on the council’s performance while presenting information on their services. It is unclear how Hartbeat magazine can claim to comply with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) guidance to local authority newspapers and magazines. This guidance clearly says that “any publicity describing the council's policies and aims should be as objective as possible, concentrating on facts or explanation or both.”

Council run publications are now being challenged in many areas. The financial considerations increasingly being superseded by the potential loss of local media and the resultant decline in the scrutiny they traditionally bring to bear on local government.

According to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, “Council produced newspapers are a ludicrous waste of money and a very real threat to the democratic process, which is why I instantly scrapped Ken Livingstone's self-serving propaganda sheet The Londoner saving £2.9 million of council tax payers' money a year to be spent on, amongst other things, 10,000 trees.” (Croydon Guardian, 2010).

Writing in the London Standard, Roy Greenslade describes council run publications as; “no more than ‘Pravda publications’. Even if they do not specifically push council policy - and most do -they certainly do not criticise that policy. They may act as a (heavily censored) forum for critics, but they do not campaign against decisions. Nor, of course, do they investigate councillors or council officers.” (Greenslade.R, 2009).

The problem was summarized in the government report, Digital Britain. This concluded that:

“While local authority information sheets can serve a useful purpose for local residents and businesses, they will inevitably not be as rigorous in holding local institutions to account as independent local media...the Government is therefore inviting the Audit Commission to undertake a specific inquiry into the prevalence of this practice, its impact and to make recommendations on best practice and if restraints should be placed on local authority activity in this field.” (HOC, 2009).

The Audit commission’s report in January 2010 concluded with the recommendation “that councils review the value of their spending on communication with the public and their editorial policies to ensure these are politically neutral and publicly defensible.”

The recommendation was not implemented before the 2010 General election but the incoming coalition government’s legislative programme did include the commitment to “impose tougher rules to stop unfair competition by local authority newspapers” (HMG 2010). It may be therefore that the days of council “Pravda publications” are numbered.

REFERENCES

Association of North East Councils, 2006, Dialogue magazine, The Reputation Campaign, [online] www.northeastcouncils.gov.uk/global/assets/documents/asset20081021122813.pdf (Accessed 3 May 2010)

Croydon Guardian, 2010, Boris Johnson condemns London's council run newspapers as 'waste of money' [online] http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/croydonnews /4870945 (Accessed 25 May 2010)

Darlington Borough Council, 2010, Town Crier, [online] www.darlington.gov.uk/dar_public/ documents/Generic/towncrier/march08.pdf (Accessed 21 May 2010)

Gilligan.A, 2009, The propaganda newspapers, [online] http://www.thisislondon.co.uk /standard /article-23724285 -the-propaganda-newspapers.do (Accessed 1 June 2010)

Greenslade.R, 2009, Council papers are bad for local journalism, and democracy, [online] http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23679090-council-papers-are-bad-for-local-journalism---and-democracy.do Accessed 30 May 2010

Harrison.C, 2010, Payback time, Corporate Communications Magazine, [online] http://www.corpcommsmagazine.co.uk/features/658-payback-time (Accessed 23 May 2010)

Hartlepool Borough Council, 2010, Hartbeat, [online] www.hartlepool.gov.uk/site/scripts /documents_info.php?document ID=747 (Accessed 3 May 2010)

HMG, 2010, Freedom, Fairness, Responsibility [online] http://programmeforgovernment.hmg.gov.uk/files/2010/05/coalition-programme.pdf (Accessed 22 May 2010)

House Of Commons, 2009, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Future for local and regional media [online] www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910 (Access 5 May 2010)

House Of Commons, 2009, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Digital Britain [online] www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200934/cmselect/cmcumeds/43/5082.htm (Accessed 25 May 2010)

Local Government Association, 2005, The Reputation Campaign, [online] www.reputation.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1 (Accessed 3 May 2010)

Local Government Association, 2009, Survey of Local Authority Newsletters, [online] www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/1857732 (Accessed 5 May 2010)

Southern Daily Echo, 2010, Councils consider axing newspaper notices, [online](http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8189645.Councils_consider_axing_newspaper_notices/). (Accessed 2

Petition triggers mayoral referendum

A VOTE will be held to decide if Great Yarmouth should have a directly elected mayor following a successful referendum campaign.

The target of 3,500 pledges of support has been reached triggering a referendum which is likely to be held in the autumn.

The petition is set to be presented at the town hall by campaign organisers Labour borough councillors Michael Castle and Trevor Wainwright next week.

Both have spent the last seven months collecting signatures to gain the support of 5pc of the population needed to hold a referendum.

A mayoral election would be likely to take place next May if the vote is in favour.

Mr Castle said: “Judging by the public reaction there is quite strong support for an elected mayor, nearly everyone we spoke to was positive.

“An elected mayor is not just a figurehead and chooses councillors to be part of a cabinet which can include cross party membership.

“The role would include the duties of the current ceremonial mayor and cover a four or five year term.”

The referendum campaign received support from Hartlepool mayor Stuart Drummond who was famously firstly stood for election as the town's football club mascot Angus the Monkey.

Borough council Labour group leader Mr Castle said he would be interested in standing as a mayoral candidate at an election.

He added: “I'm not hiding my light under a bushel, I would like to stand and would expect there to be a large field of candidates including independents.”

Mind, body and spirit fair

The programme promised Aromatherapy, Reiki, Indian Head Massage, Crystal Healing, Hopi Ear Candling and a series of talks by practitioners in many of these alternative arts. It all seemed too good to miss, so my Sunday morning was spent at the Hall Garth Hotel, Darlington, at their Mind, body and spirit fair.

When I arrived the whole place was lit by candles. I thought it was very atmospheric. “Unfortunately not,” announced the organiser, Sheila Wren. “It’s a power cut. Everywhere is off. We’ll just have to carry on as best we can.”

The lack of electricity was seriously inhibiting the activities of Nina Hall, the Aura Photographer, who had no power for her camera. However, just as I was walking past the table the lights came back on. It was a sign. I had to have my aura photographed.


My aura turned out to indicate I was going through a major change in my life. My right hand side was predominately orange indicating I was brave, positive and strong. Above my head to the left was white, indicating I was a bit lost. Below the white was blue just shading to green. Caring, sensitive, loyal and moving on through awareness. However, I wasn’t to be concerned “Your Grandfather is with you,” Nina reassured me. “I saw him as soon as you came into the room.” This apparently is very good, my Grandfather was my Spirit Guide and he was taking me on a good journey to a better place.

My aura safely captured I decided next on the agenda should be a more physical need. It was time for my ear candling. This was carried out by a very friendly and chatty lady called Jenny. The ear candling was fairly soothing and after it was completed Jenny opened the unburnt end of the candle to show me what the “chimney effect” had pulled from deep within my ear. A respectable amount of wax and assorted debris had been purged from within my head.

Now my chakras were calling out to be aligned. Reike therapy was the only answer. It seemed to consist of lying on my back and the Reike Master placing her hands on my chakra points, starting with the head and moving down my body to finish at my feet. I am apparently quite a well balanced person.

Moving on. I met my colonic therapist, Tania, who was there as an exhibitor. Surely not demonstrating colonic irrigation? Who would volunteer for that? I need not have worried; she was there to carry out food sensitivity and allergy testing.

I rounded off the day with an Indian Head Massage and then listened to Jo Smyth, a very perky lady, who spoke about the Law of Attraction in Action; Real Stories of Manifesting Health, Wealth and Happiness.

We can chose to be Tigger, full of enthusiasm and bounce; Eeyore, convinced nothing good can ever happen; or even Piglet, knowing that good things happen, just not to us; but the character we all should aspire to be is Winnie the Pooh, knowing that good things will happen to us, because we deserve them, and everything will be right in the end.

Driving home I pondered on the meaning of it all. My aura had been photographed and cleansed, both my ears fully candled, my chakras balanced and my head massaged. It was definitely a different way of spending a Sunday. Had this all made me into a bear of very little brain? Was I in my Pooh place?


The Mind, body and spirit fair cost £3 for admission. The prices for the individual treatments started from £5 for an Indian Head massage taster session and then went up from there.

The next mind body spirit fair will be in Staithes, North Yorkshire on 19th June 2010. Details available online at www.butterflyhealingspirit.com

Mind and Body Fair

Conventional wisdom would have us all believe that you can’t teach old dog new tricks. Well since embarking on my second half century on this planet I have decided it’s not totally true.

As a youngster I often held back from new experiences or activities because I was worried about what my family, friends or colleagues might say or think. It might be a bit extreme to say I no longer care about their opinions but it is definitely true that I place much less weight on them these days. I’m much more inclined to give things a go to see if I like them rather than dismiss something out of hand.

It is in this spirit or enquiry that on Sunday I will be going along to a Mind Body and Spirit Fair.

The range of activities on offer includes several that most people will have heard of, like Reiki, Indian Head Massage and Reflexology. There are also some that I needed to refer to the internet to discover more about, like Hopi Ear Candling.
Usually attributed to the Hopi American Indian tribe, an ear candle is a cotton tube, impregnated with beeswax, honey and therapeutic oils, that is lit and placed into the outer ear passage. The candle generates a gentle heat which combines with the therapeutic oils to produces a light suction, known as the chimney principle, which draws impurities gently to the surface, where they can be removed. Each ear is treated in turn, taking about 20 minutes in total. This is followed by a period of relaxation, and sometimes a facial massage concentrating on the sinus areas.

An Aura Photographer is also listed in the program and one of the other guest speakers will be explaining crystal healing and singing.
Nine months struggling with T-Line shorthand to reach approximately 80 words per minute, (while watching the younger members of my class mastering 100 words per minute with apparent ease), have convinced me that my capacity to assimilate new information might indeed be reduced, but my openness to new ideas and concepts is in many ways greater than it was two or three decades ago.

Maybe I’ll see you at the Fair?

Mind Body and Spirit Fair at the Hall Garth Hotel, Darlington.
Sunday 23rd May 2010. 10am - 5pm.
Admission £3.00 (inc.all talks).
For further details contact Sheila: 01287 641931
or email sheila@butterflyhealingspirit.com

Big Issue Anyone?